Top Celebrities Donate an Hour of their time for Charity eBay Lunch Auction

CFO Tom Gallagher, Coach Bobby Bowden, Attorney General Charlie Crist and Congressman John Mica are among the list of 200 famous faces up for bid to benefit Communities In Schools

Communities In Schools, the nation’s leading stay-in-school organization, has launched its third annual Lunch With a Leader ™ online auction at www.lunchwithaleader.com. The auction, which is hosted on eBay, will allow high bidders to have the lunch of a lifetime with a NASCAR legend, a former first lady, the founder of a Fortune 500 company…and many others.

FSU Coach Bobby Bowden, Florida’s CFO Tom Gallagher, Florida’s Attorney General Charlie Crist, and Congressman John Mica are “up for bid” February 1st – February 11th. Proceeds from these Florida leaders will benefit Communities In Schools of Florida. Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher said: “As a proud CIS board member, I am happy to participate in this great event.

Along with First Lady Laura Bush, I support Communities In Schools because ‘CIS turns kids on to learning by turning them on to life’.”

Nascar driver Bill Elliott is quoted saying: “All children have the potential to be successful, but they can only reach that potential when they stay in school. I love Lunch With a Leader, because everyone comes out a winner. One of my fans will be the high bidder and have lunch with me. Communities In Schools will benefit from the dollars raised, and most of all a kid somewhere will have a better chance at winning in life.”

The online charity auction features national figures from every walk of life, as well as state leaders. Nascar legends Bill Riley and Richard Petty, Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, and Larry King, are among more than 200 leaders who have donated their time – some for the third year in a row – on behalf of children and youth in jeopardy of dropping out of school. Proceeds from Lunch With a Leader will benefit Communities In Schools. Last year’s auction raised more than $147,000 nationally.

Communities In Schools is the nation’s leading community-based organization helping kids stay in school and prepare for life. Today, more than 2 million young people every year have access to services through over 200 local and state Communities In Schools programs in 28 states. For two years in a row, Worth magazine named CIS one of the top 100 nonprofits in America.

Communities In Schools of Florida currently serves nearly 25,000 students in 15 local programs.

Our masthead for January is a view of the County Courthouse located downtown in beautiful Madison County, Florida.